All faiths must be 'workers for peace', says sister of Fr Jacques Hamel at funeral

The sister of the French priest slain by Islamist extremists appealed at his funeral on Tuesday for all faiths to work together for peace, while the Archbishop of Rouen, leading the service, said Fr Jacques Hamel tried to push away his attackers with his feet, saying “go away, Satan.”

Hundreds of priests and bishops filled Rouen cathedral along with many hundreds more people, including Muslims who have joined in the grieving since the murder of the 85-year-old priest, slashed by his attackers while celebrating morning Mass.

Fr Hamel’s murder sent shockwaves that went beyond his humble work as a small-town parish priest, touching other faiths and all of France. It came less than two weeks after 84 people were killed in an attack by a hurtling truck in Nice on a crowd of Bastille Day revelers.

“Evil is a mystery. It reaches heights of horror that take us out of the human,” Archbishop Dominique Lebrun said during the two-hour Mass.

“Isn’t that what you wanted to say, Jacques, with your last words, when you fell to the ground? After you were struck by the knife, you tried to push away your assailants with your feet and said, ‘Go away, Satan.’ You repeated it, ‘Go away, Satan.'”

With those words, Archbishop Lebrun said, “You expressed … your faith in the goodness of humans and that the devil put his claws in.”

A photo of Fr Jacques Hamel on display during his funeral (AP)

Roselyne Hamel, the priest’s sister, told the crowd: “Let’s learn to live together, let’s be workers for peace.”

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, also in charge of faiths, was among those attending the Mass in the cathedral, which dates from the 12th century. Hundreds of people watched the ceremony on a big screen outside, under constant rain.

Archbishop Lebrun, celebrating the Mass, extended thanks to Catholics attending the service but also to “believers of other religious faiths, in particular the Jewish community and the Muslim community, very affected and already decided to unite for: ‘Never again.'”

The archbishop invited people to return to churches on August 15, the day celebrating the Assumption of Mary, to express that “violence will not take over in their hearts.”

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the priest, two nuns and an elderly couple were held hostage before the assailants slashed the priest’s throat and seriously wounded the other man. Another nun at the Mass slipped away and raised the alarm, and police shot to death both attackers as they left the church.

Tuesday’s ceremony was organised under tight security, and the burial was private.

Meanwhile, several cities and towns across the country have decided to cancel traditional August fireworks shows and other outdoor summer events, citing security reasons. After Nice, Avignon and smaller French towns cancelled their fireworks displays and authorities in Marseilles called off an air show by the renowned Patrouille de France scheduled for next week, an event that draws crowds of more than 100,000 people every year.